Only a champion knows 

when to hang up his boots 

let us respect that he chose  

and let there be no disputes 

yes, we all wish he’d played more  

we know that he is fit as a fiddle  

we wanted him to score runs galore  

we wanted him out there in the middle  

the accolades have come in thick and fast  

noting his victories and all that he’s done  

from the greats of the game, present and past  

many of them rivals, against whom India had won  

both as a batsman and captain, he’d led the way  

then, with 10,000 in sight, King Kohli walked away  

he walked away with his head held high  

notching up thirty hundreds to his name  

a fighter, whose mantra was ‘never say die’ 

high energy and passion, he lived for the game  

seven double hundreds, not many can match  

2016-17, two thousand runs, his purple patch  

fourteen years ago was when he made his debut  

he wore gleaming white, donned the baggy blue  

Virat, brave, valorous hero; he will always shine  

let us stand up: applaud and salute Player #269  

Neil Daswani 

Neil Daswani, a naturalised Singaporean of Indian origin, struck a purple patch over mid-2020 to early 2022, authoring and publishing six volumes of poetry. His poetry has been showcased at the Singapore Writers Festival, Bangalore Literature Festival as well as Writers Shorts at the Jaipur Literature Festival and JLF Toronto.

His poem O Brave Soldiers won the runner-up Prize awarded by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting under the aegis of the Defence Forces.